The assessments strengthen Argus' coverage of the Black Sea and global base oil markets, and highlight the interconnectivity and increasing internationalisation in these markets.

Turkey is a major lubricant blender and consumer, with automobile sales growth of 14pc in 2011 and industrial production that has grown every month since the end of 2009. Turkey is one of the world's largest base oil importers. Its key supplies have traditionally come from Europe, Russia and the Mideast Gulf. But the country is importing more frequently from other markets, such as North and South America, India, Taiwan and South Korea.

With these new price assessments, Argus provides a pricing tool for spot and term cargoes from an increasingly diverse number of sources.

"These new assessments will facilitate arbitrage trade to a key and growing market," Argus chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. "The assessments illustrate the changing dynamics of the base oils market and the importance of reliable price information in managing and taking advantage of these changes."

The new assessments are published weekly in Argus Base Oils, a global report covering base oil prices in key markets.

Argus is holding a base oils conference in Turkey in March 2013. The event will explore further Turkey's role and significance in the regional and global base oils market.

About ArgusArgus Media is an independent media organisation with more than 450 staff. It is headquartered in London and has offices in each of the world's principal energy centres. Its main activities comprise publishing market reports containing price assessments and commentary, and business intelligence reports that analyse market and industry trends.

More than half of Argus' staff are commodity journalists who specialise in reporting news and price information relating to physical energy and related commodity markets. They operate according to a rigorous Editorial Code of Conduct and an Ethics Policy that align with best journalistic practice, including the avoidance of conflicts of interest.

Argus is a leading provider of price assessments, business intelligence, market data, consultancy services and conferences on the global crude, oil products, natural gas, electricity, coal, emissions, bioenergy, fertilizer, petrochemical and transportation industries. Data provided by Argus are widely used by companies and taxation authorities for indexation of physical trade. Companies, governments and international agencies use Argus information for analysis and planning purposes.

Argus has 19 offices globally, including London, Houston, Washington, New York, Calgary, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow, Astana and other key centres of the energy industry. Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company.